In what appears to be a must for most free domestic television stations now, the hosts of several programmes spend their time on air recounting reports they have picked up from local newspapers just before the dailies hit the street the next morning. Some of these programmes are tagged "news talk", with the hosts adding their own comments or background information when necessary. This trend has quickly been embraced by most television stations, however members of the media and serious viewers seem to be having second thoughts about the merits.

During this era of advanced information technology when the latest news updates are accessible via the Internet at all times, many doubt that television programmes dedicated to the second-hand reporting of stories from newspapers really give their audiences anything worth viewing.

The presentation of newspaper reports on television, as a matter of fact, was pioneered by Nation TV several years ago. Prominent stories, mainly from the daily newspapers published by Nation Group, were originally recounted to viewers as a supplementary part of the main news programme. Other television stations later modelled their news programmes along similar lines, and some of the programmes also turned solely to narrating reports from the print media.

Nation TV still has its newspaper-based programmes today, but these now have fresh comments and reactions from parties in the news to give the audience the latest updates and provide comprehensive coverage. The degree of additional journalistic work put into selected press reports by individual TV stations, however, remarkably differs. While some channels try to avoid monotony by running their own news footage of the same reports taken from certain newspapers, others hire popular news hosts to attract viewers. These popular hosts might help draw an audience for some time but in the long run there is no guarantee that they can make such programmes popular forever.

While newspapers have their own classic charm that is irreplaceable by electronic media, television stations have a big advantage when it comes to the quicker pace of reporting and the visual element they can lend to the same news items. Before newspapers hit the streets, television stations have already aired most of the major news stories contained in them. Therefore, bluntly narrating reports from newspapers to television viewers constitutes a step backward for the electronic media, despite the edge they hold over the print media. And since most newspaper stories picked for television reading are the same for every station, the audience would have little to gain by watching the same old stories being retold again and again.

Television news producers seem to be well aware of the ebbing nature of the newspaper-oriented programmes and have of late come to admit that it is time for them to make some changes. As Nation TV announced last week that it was planning more progressive news programmes that would benefit the audience more than just reading newspapers on the air, at least two other stations have announced similar plans. This should be welcomed as a positive sign towards bettering the standards of the Thai electronic media.

Finally, the time has come for second-hand television reporting of stories from newspapers to be given a serious review and for more creativity to be introduced in news programmes. The audiences must be given news programmes that are more intellectual and enlightening. Programme producers should work harder in getting accurate in-depth reports and analysis for particular issues in order to help the audience think and judge.